Pickle the Cat Meets a Wild Turkey (Plus Library Resources Just in Time for Summer Fun!)

What’s Inside:

In this month’s issue of Resources For My Readers, you’ll find:

• Pickle the Cat’s encounter with a fat robin AND a wild turkey

• A recap on my first-ever PB Critique FLASH SALE!

• Ways to #BeAnAmbassador

• Some of my favorite library resources—just in time for summer fun

• Save the dates and deadlines, a book recommendations, favorite quote, and more!

Pet Pics

I decided to change things up a bit this month and lead with my Pet Pics, because these two pics are just too much fun to miss out on! Pickle the Cat recently had a window encounter with a wild turkey — soon after her encounter with this fat robin.

Dawn’s Desk

One of the things I’ve come to greatly appreciate about writing this newsletter for you, is how meaningful it is for me to take pause to gather and review what I’ve accomplished professionally (and engaged in personally) over the past month.

I have a well-established routine of exchanging weekly creative goals (plus a goal report for the prior week) with my longtime accountability and critique partner, Sara T. Behrman, and although the practice is instrumental in helping me stay on track, a week’s worth of activities and accomplishments always seems a bit unremarkable to me. But when I see these same activities and accomplishments all bunched up and gathered together over the course of a month, I realize something extremely important: Even small steps forward add up to forward motion (and live music, nature, and time spent with friends and family feed my creative soul)!

Here is a screenshot of my standard weekly creative goal categories that I aim to move forward in some fashion each week:

And here are the highlights of some of my creative activities and accomplishments over the past month:

• Write another new picture book draft (it’s a very scrappy draft, but it’s on the page).

• Engage in several free-writes to help me move a stalled story forward, and dabble with an experimental revision for a story for which I’m still trying to figure out the voice and form.

• Participate in weekly webinars, reading assignments, and practice/homework for the graphic novel class I’m taking from Marcie Colleen. I’m still not 100% sure writing graphic novels is my jam, but the course content has already helped me think more visually for my picture book writing.

• Preview webinar about writing humor presented by Megan Woodward. Oh. My. Gosh. I learned so much, and I’m super excited to start experimenting with some of the techniques and approaches Megan shared. This webinar will eventually be available to the general public (tentatively slated for July) —I’ll share more details here as they’re available. I wholeheartedly and highly recommend!

• Hold my first-ever professional critique Flash Sale for folks who pre-ordered my next book (thank you!). I felt very supported by the response and met / connected with some delightful book creators in the process. (Although the initial offer has expired, you can read about the offering here.) I’ll definitely do something similar in the future. Comment below if you’d like me to personally you when the time comes.

• Submit a manuscript for consideration to a trade publisher that had a brief open submission window for unagented authors (yep, that’s me!), and I made some needed preparations for a first pages reading and professional critique that I’ll be participating at the upcoming SCBWI-Oregon conference.

• Have the sincere pleasure of experiencing author Stephanie Shaw’s book, Piece by Piece, being interpreted as a musical score composed by a local musician and performed by a local community orchestra. It was moving and inspiring!

• Receive and review the FINAL proof of Mama’s Home (and Baby Too!), and meet with the marketing team at Familius to get introduced and looped into my publisher’s promotional plans for this book. (It’s been a verrrry loooong gestation process for this baby. You can read all about the path to publication for Mama’s Home here.)

Save-the-Dates and Deadlines

Now, Until? : North South Books is open for unagented submissions. Details here.

May 29, 2026: Thirsty Caterpillar now open!

June 3, 2026: Mary Klinger in conversation with Tami Lynn Kent about Klinger’s memoir, More Owen, at Broadway Books. Details here.

June 2026: Mama’s Home (and Baby Too!) heads to the printer!

June 24, 2026: Author Deborah Williams Holt will visit my blog with an inspiring path-to-publication story for her debut, Nighty, Night, Dinos. You will not want to miss this one!

July 19, 2026: Dawn presents a special story time event at Thirsty Caterpillar, a beautiful, new experiential bookstore and community gathering space in Lake Oswego.

July 25, 2026: SCBWI-Oregon Picnic, 9AM-Noon. Details here.

Jul 31-Aug 2, 2026: 56th Annual Willamette Writers Conference Event is in-person in Portland, Oregon and online. Details and registration here.

Sept 30, 2026: Application deadline for Oregon Historical Society’s Holiday Cheer event (my absolute favorite book event of the year (event is scheduled for Dec 6, 2026). Application and details here.

Oct 13, 2026: Mama’s Home (and Baby Too!) hits bookshelves (YES, it DOES take a looooong time from the “to the printer” date to the “hits bookshelves” date). Preorder your copy(ies) now, wherever books are sold (support your local indie(s) as often as you can). Stay tuned for book launch events and details.

This Month’s Special Feature: Insider Tip

#BeAnAmbassador

Over the past month, there was a lot of collective creative energy expended on the harmful and unhelpful words written (and perspectives shared) by none other than the current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. (IYKYK - You can get acquainted with the issue via social media posts from industry voices such as Tracy Baptiste and Chistina Soontornvat. This brief video posted by MrWolfComics (aka Aron Nels Steinke) captures much of what has been on my mind in this moment, and author Kate Messner offered a great, actionable suggestion for each of us: #BeAnAmbassador.

There are many simple, yet impactful ways to #BeAnAmbassador:

Authors Heidi E. Y. Stemple and Josh Funk model ways to shine a light on other authors’ work here and here (and Josh humorously points out the subtle difference between #BeAnAmbassador and #beanambassador here (I think you have to follow Josh on FB to access his posts, but if you’re not already doing so, you’re missing out on his many gifts to the kidlit community!)

Jillian Heise offers excellent ideas and resources for diversifying the traditional picture book author/illustrator study here.

Last month I wrote about ways to support the arts and artists in your community and referred to a recent post on Kidlit Survival Guide about how to be a good literary citizen, which is essentially showing up for and supporting other book creators and the wider book community.

Other ideas include:

• Sharing social media posts for authors whose books you enjoyed.

• If you’re going to purchase a book, doing so via your local indie when you can. This helps a business in your community, and it introduces the author’s book to your local booksellers.

• If you plan to purchase a copy of a book, consider buying two copies; keep one for yourself and gift the other to another reader or to a nonprofit organization that could share the book with others.

• Attending author events: book readings and story times; launch parties; book sale and signing events; and panel discussions, etc. Not only will you be supporting another book creator, you will gain valuable industry insights.

• Shining a light on other book creators’ work via whatever resources you have at your disposal (e.g. blogs, podcasts, newsletters, etc.), for example, I have special features on my blog where I share other authors’ path to publication stories and/or their tips for hosting book events. Don’t have a platform? No worries! Even just mentioning a book you enjoyed to another reader matters!

• Requesting books be added to your local library’s collection, and borrowing books from you local library (circulation numbers matter!)

• Reviewing books you’ve enjoyed on online book platforms such as Barnes & Noble and/or Goodreads. Here is a screenshot of some of the books I’ve recently reviewed on Goodreads and that I’ve recently requested and am waiting for at my local library.

(NOTE: Digital ARCs of Mama’s Home (and Baby Too!) will soon be available. Drop a comment below or send me a DM if you’d like to be amongst the first to read and review.)

Out and About

I’m consistently surprised by how many live shows I’ve attended over the past month when I pull out my (old style!) calendar and do a tally up the details. This past month’s highlights include:

An amazing concert by Glen Phillips (the lead singer for Toad the Wet Sprocket) at Mississippi Studios. He was joined by new-to-me Garrison Starr, who was fantastic.

Another great show by Dadweed at Ringler’s Pub.

Two incredible shows by Jacob Westfall, one at The Atlantis Lounge with his full band (in celebration of his birthday), and one at Skamania Lodge, that I was lucky enough to catch on my birthday! I can’t say enough about how amazingly talented is he.

We were also lucky enough to hear Ronnie Carrier perform at The Atlantis, and, I’m so happy to share that Fox and Bones’ GoFundMe was successfully funded. My husband and I are so proud to have supported their campaign.

Other happenings and highlights this month include:

• Paddle boarding on the Tualatin River

• Getting spoiled by my daughter with a lovely homemade brunch for Mother’s Day.

• Gathering in celebration of my mother-in-law’s 90th birthday.

• Celebrating my son’s recent entrée into the workforce in the field he studied in college.

• Spending a delightful birthday weekend in White Salmon, Washington and enjoying views in the Columbia River Gorge.

• Visiting the Columbia River Museum. Highly recommend!

• Coffee, lunch, happy hour with friends. Highly recommend!

• Calling my lawmakers to express my opinions; protesting a variety of issues that deeply concern me; volunteering to get out the vote; and casting my own ballot in our local primary election — you know, the usual.

  

Prochovnic Picks

I’ve just started reading Maggie Smith’s latest wonder, A Suit or a Suitcase, and I am absolutely smitten. I’m moving through it slowly to savor each delicious word. I’m currently reading the ebook version from my library, but I will be buying a hard copy to hold onto and return to again and again.

Take Pause: A Favorite Quote

“…everyone experiences grief, if you’re lucky,” Steven Colbert.

Very profound, and very true. I experienced my second Mother’s Day without my mom this past month. I think I’m only just beginning to scratch the surface of the complexity of the grief journey.

Kid’s Corner

With summer approaching, I wanted to give a shout out to summer reading programming at libraries all over the country (world?) AND share some of my favorite year-round resources at my local libraries (and maybe yours?!) for kids and their grown-ups:

Adventure Passes (providing free access to local area attractions)

Curated Theme Bags or Book Bundles such as Discovery Kits, Story Time To Go Kits, and Potty Kits

Library of Things—I love this concept so much! (See what’s available to borrow in the collections of two of my local libraries: Tualatin and Beaverton)

Streaming videos and television shows via Kanopy (one of libraries’ best kept secrets—my local library has over 30,000 features to choose from!)

If any of these ideas are of interest to you, visit your own local library and see what types of unique services are offered and available to you! Have something cool available at your local library that isn’t mentioned here? I’d love to hear about it. Drop the info in the comments below!

Causes I Care About

As noted in previous issues, subscriber fees are shared with a cause/organization I care about (rotated on a quarterly basis). The Oregon Food Bank was the first organization to benefit. Thank you to those who have participated in this way.

This quarter’s beneficiary is the The Blanchet House. Their byline: A meal. A home. A future. They are on a mission to “alleviate suffering and provide hope for a better life by serving essential aid with dignity,” and believe that “everyone deserves food, clothes, community, and hope.” If you’ve found this newsletter helpful, please consider subscribing, or alternatively, donating directly to the Blanchet House (or another nonprofit with a similar mission of your choosing). Together, we can make a meaningful difference in this world, one newsletter, one book, one word at a time.

Coming Soon!

Stay tuned for next month’s issue, which will include:

• A recap of my experience at the SCBWI-Oregon Conference (which I just returned from)

• A behind-the-scenes look at the early steps of developing a book trailer for my next book (carried over from this month).

• A recap of my experience at a Create the World event

• And, more!

Thanks for reading! I welcome your thoughts and feedback. Disclosure: As an affiliate of Bookshop.org, I may earn a small commission from books purchased through the links in this post.

[Reminder: Typos are one of my super powers. I try to find ‘em and fix ‘em, but I’m rarely 100% successful! Know that they are not an indication of the level of care that went into creating this newsletter for you, but rather solid evidence that it’s human-made.]

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